Parts feeder

ABSTRACT

A parts feeder made up of a bowl with an open top. A disc having a conical top is rotatably supported in the bowl. The outer periphery of the disc rotates in close proximity to the inside of the bowl walls and a block is fixed to the wall of the bowl. The block has an opening in it that is tangential to the inside of the bowl walls. The opening in the block is connected to an exit tube from which parts can be fed to a machine. The disc is rotated by a motor connected to its center.

nite d States Patent Inventors Ernest James Bryner;

Gard William Wolcott, Custer City, Pa. Appl. No. 745,260 Filed July 16, 1968 Patented Jan. 19, 1971 Assignee Sigma Engineering Service, Inc.

Custer City, Pa. a corporation of Pennsylvania PARTS FEEDER 2 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs. 4 US. Cl 198/220,

198/3 3 Int. Cl ..B65g 47/24, 365g 27/00 Field of Search 198/220(B40), 209, 33; 221/167, 277; 198/HD References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1959 Havsman et al. 12/1936 Lewis 8/1916 McLeod. 2/1952 Lakso Primary Examiner Evon C. Blunk Assistant Examiner-Roger S. Gaither AttorneyCharles L. Lovercheck ABSTRACT: A parts feeder made up of a bowl with an open top. A disc having a conical top is rotatably supported in the bowl. The outer periphery of the disc rotates in close proximi ty to the inside of the bowl walls and a block is fixed to the wall of the bowl The block has an opening in it that is tangential to the inside of the bowl walls. The opening in the block is connected to an exit tube from which parts can be fed to a machine. The disc is rotated by a motor connected to its l.-- i \K\\\\\\ PATENIED JAN 1 9 l97l SHEET 1 [1F 2 INVENTORS. ERNEST d. BRYNER BY GARD W. WOLCOTT MKW PATENTED JAN] 9 I97! SHEET 2 0F 2 7 FIG 5 FIG.

INVENTORS.

Enwss'r J. BRYNER GARD W. WOLco'rT O m F l PARTS FEEDER 1 GENERAL DESCRIPTIONOF INVENTION I In the feeder disclosed, partsenter the opening in the block by the parts as they enter the opening. At this point the lefthand side of the entrance groove provides a 3 slope, guiding the part up and over the lip of the cone into an exittube. Any

parts which are not in the groove or properly aligned withthe of the block. The bottom surface of this block is closely machined to follow the slope of the cone, so. that its leading edge will then wipe excess parts around the obstruction. Parts output of these machines can be increased or decreased by use of a variable speed control for the motor, or by simply'changing the gear ratio which in turn determines the rotational speed of the cone-shaped table or parts distributor. An operator simply bulk-loads parts into the bowl shaped hopper. The parts are propelled by gravity and centrifugal force to the periphery of the distributor table where a concave radius defining the peripheral groove holds them in position without rubbing on the outer wall as the table rotates. A wiper is attached to the outer wall of the bowl such that when parts reach the exit chute they are guided singly off from the rotating disc'and out the exit tube. Parts will align themselves endto-end in the outer radius of the rotary disc such that as the first parts iswipe'd" off from the disc, subsequent parts transmit pressure as the disc advances propelling a steady stream of parts from the bowl. The wiper is designed to reject nonaligned parts back onto the disc.

It is, accordingly, an object of the invention to provide an improved parts feeder.

Another object of the invention to provide a parts feeder that is simple in construction, economical to manufacture, and

simple and efficient to use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a parts feeder which will handle parts without abrasion, such as resistor bodies, etc. a

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists of the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportions, and minor details of construction without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention. I

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top view of the feeder according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged top view of the wiper block.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the wiper block shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the wiper block.

FIG. 6 is a bottom view of the block.

FIG. 7 is a front end view of the block.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of the wiper block assembly taken on cross section line 2-2 of FIG. I asshown in FIG. 2.

Now with more particular reference to the drawings, the feeder has a bowl 10 that has a generally cylindrical inside surface. A disc 11 is rotatably supported to turn around its center on the axle 19 that is received in the bearing 20. The wiper block l2 is fixed to the inner periphery of the sidewalls of the bowl by bolts 13 and an upper peripheral groove 14 is formed in the disc around its outer periphery in the top thereof.

The block 12 has an outwardly extended rim 19', a groove 25' in the bottom thereof and this groove overlies the part of the groove 14 in the disc so that the two grooves together form an opening and assa e that connects to the entrance end 26 of the tube 23. The tuie by means of bracket 27. The block 12 has a platelike upper portion 28 that terminates in a downwardly and inwardly diverging portion 29 that overlies a portion of the disc 11. The groove 25' in block 12 is chamfered at its entrance end at 26 so thatthe articles supported on the disc will be directed into the passage defined by the groove. A motor 16 is supported on the base and it drives through gears 17 and 18 to the axle 19 connected to the disc. v

A support 21 is attached to base 23 by bolts 24. Base 23 may be rested on a suitable supporting surface and the bottom of the bowl is secured to the support 21 by bolts 25. A cover 22 may be fixed to the outside of the bowl and to the base.

The foregoing specification sets forth the invention in its preferred practical forms but the structure shown is capable of modification within a range of equivalents without departing from the invention which is to be understood is broadly novel as is commensuratewith the appended claims. The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

I claim:

l. A parts feeder comprising:

an open-topped bowl having a flat bottom and an upwardly extending wall;

a disc;

the center of said disc and the outer peripheral edge of said disc being rotatably Supported on said bowl bottom at its center and at its peripheral edge a hole in the center of said bowl bottom;

an axle attached to said disc and extending through said hole;

motor means connected to said axle and means to limit the movement of said axle relative to said bowl bottom;

the outer periphery of said disc shape; closely adjacent to the inside periphery of said wall,

said disc being generally conical in shape;

an upwardly extending rim at the outer periphery; a peripheral groove in the top surface of said disc adjacent the outer periphery thereof;

a wiper block fixed to said wall and overlying a portion of said disc;

a downwardly facing groove in said wiper block, said groove in said wiper block overlying said groove in said disc;

a discharge tube fixed to said wall;

said groove in said disc and said groove in said block cooperating to form a passage for parts from said disc to said discharge tube;

said motor means connected to said axle to rotate it whereby parts put into said feeder bowl andon said disc are moved to said groove and directed into said groove in 23 is fixed to the outside of the bowl 1 

1. A parts feeder comprising: an open-topped bowl having a flat bottom and an upwardly extending wall; a disc; the center of said disc and the outer peripheral edge of said disc being rotatably supported on said bowl bottom at its center and at its peripheral edge a hole in the center of said bowl bottom; an axle attached to said disc and extending through said hole; motor means connected to said axle and means to limit the movement of said axle relative to said bowl bottom; the outer periphery of said disc shape; closely adjacent to the inside periphery of said wall, said disc being generally conical in shape; an upwardly extending rim at the outer periphery; a peripheral groove in the top surface of said disc adjacent the outer periphery thereof; a wiper block fixed to said wall and overlying a portion of said disc; a downwardly facing groove in said wiper block, said groove in said wiper block overlying said groove in said disc; a discharge tube fixed to said wall; said groove in said disc and said groove in said block cooperating to form a passage for parts from said disc to said discharge tube; said motor means connected to said axle to rotate it whereby parts put into said feeder bowl and on said disc are moved to said groove and directed into said groove in said block and into said tube; said motor means having a shaft spaced laterally from said axle; and said groove in said block being generally aligned with a part of the opening through said tube.
 2. The feeder recited in claim 1 wherein said block is tapered inWard toward the center of said disc in the direction of rotation of said disc, and said groove in said block is chamfered at the end thereof remote from said tube. 